Jesmond fight back to gain a Desmond

Match report by Phil Kelly

Sunderland Broom Men’s 1s 2-2 Jesmond Parish Church Men’s 1s

An injury-hit JPC 1s went some way to show they can cut it on a cold, wet afternoon in Sunderland as they fought back bravely from 2-0 down to gain a well-earned draw. It’s fair to say JPC started on the back foot, or indeed neither feet in many cases. On a miserable day, players were falling over left, right and centre, on a slippery pitch and struggled to stand up to a skilful Sunderland attack. Within 20 minutes, Sunderland had raced into a 2-0 lead as the visitors were only finding their feet. At this point, the demons of last season’s 6-0 defeat were returning. However, as JPC acclimatised to the pitch, they began to click more and more. The comeback started conveniently on the stroke of half-time. Dan Clarke’s shot was saved by the Sunderland keeper, for Phil Kelly to rebound first. Sunderland’s keeper did well to get a hand to it, but couldn’t stop the ball crossing the line. The winger was on the verge of celebrating his first 1s goal in four years of very occasionally being called up, only for the more familiar scorer of Michael Davison to knock the ball over the line, just to make sure. Michael Davison, he scores when he wants.

A rejuvenated JPC continued to grow in confidence in the second-half. From the start the wide men began to look more dangerous going forward. Rather than purchasing new players in the January transfer window, JPC have instead invested heavily in youth and this approach is paying off. Matt Nicholson and Andrew Cockerill (33 years between them) combined superbly to take the right-wing by storm - far more effectively than a Trump immigration policy. Meanwhile, a hard-working and organised midfield and defence made Sunderland work for their chances. Comparisons could be made to having a really effective wall to keep the goals out, only without making the opposition pay for it. When called upon, Jonny Greenshields did make some terrific saves to keep the game alive. As the match progressed, Michael and Dan began to link up increasingly effectively and eventually the equaliser came. Michael’s pace proved too much, he rounded the keeper and his powerful reverse shot was deflected into the back of the net. 2-2 and all to play for.

Both sides had chances to seal a late victory, but in the end a draw was a fair result. After the match the players departed swiftly to watch the big sporting fixture - Wolves v Newcastle obviously, though apparently there was a big rugby match on also. All in all, a day with plenty of positives. It wasn’t quite Jesmond First, but Jesmond Equal. Or something like that.